Chinese Martial Arts are a very difficult, complicated, informative and
rigorous form of physical activity. Tai Chi Chuan is one form of Chinese martial
arts. The rich and abundant information and philosophy in Tai Chi Chuan is
generally divided into two components, one about the Art and one about the
Taoist aspects in the art. The Art information includes the fundamental martial
arts training and it involves the physical body, so it is visible and tangible.
The information regarding the Taoist part consists of advanced martial arts
training such as principles, concepts and energy, and these are not involved
with the physical body, so it is invisible and intangible.

One can trace the origin, evolution and advancement of everything that exists
today. Taoist priests often said that they were studying the tao when they were
trying to understand how everything existed and functioned in nature. The Art
component is the behavior resulting from these studies. Tai Chi Chuan derives
from Taoism. Every movement in Tai Chi Chuan can be interpreted according to
Yin/Yang theory. Therefore, Tai Chi Chuan has many functions. It has health and
self defense benefits, and is a tool used by the ancient taoist priests to
understand and study how everything exists in nature. As a Tai Chi Chuan
practitioner, one must spend many years and go through many difficult steps and
processes of training to master the Art Component of Tai Chi Chuan. At the same
time, one should spend an equal amount of time to master its Taoist Component to
complete the training. Otherwise, it is but a calisthenics exercise.

When I speak of the Art Component of Tai Chi Chuan training, I am referring
to the visible aspects such as the solo form, push hand exercises, weapons forms
and applications. These tangible aspects one can observe, learn, compare and
improve. It does not matter what style of Tai Chi Chuan one is practicing, or
how often, if one just practices or trains in only this physical aspect, it is
not enough. Training under the Art Component will not progress into the Taoist
Component, which is a higher, more advance and difficult training.

Although the training remains in the Art Component, because Tai Chi Chuan is
based on the principle of Yin/Yang, when one practices Tai Chi Chuan, one is
physically interpreting Yin and Yang. Therefore, many Taoist priests say that
when they are engaging in Tai Chi Chuan training, it is a methodology to study
nature, not intended for striking, kicking or punching as most people might
think.

In the Tao Teh Ching, Lao Tzu said "Tao, the speaking Tao. Name, the speaking
name. It is an extraordinary name." He said that the Tao can be explained in
words but not completely. The Tao is composed of too many things and has too
many meanings. In modern terms, the Tao refers to the energy and power sources
behind the natural phenomenon of all things. One cannot see it with the naked
eye. However, sometimes one can feel its presence. Therefore, it is difficult
to explain in words, but not impossible. In Tai Chi Chuan, the Taoist Component
refers to the theories, concepts and principles. The Art Component consists of
the body's performance of such things as turns, kicks and punches with the feet
and hands. These are visible to the naked eye. The truth is, the Taoist
component in Tai Chi Chuan not only refers to the theories, concepts and
principles in governing the body's performance, it also refers to the power
behind each posture. Therefore, when one practices Tai Chi Chuan, one key aspect
is to understand its abundant Taoist teachings. This is the key to one's success
in Tai Chi Chuan training.

A. Taoist informationWhile one is practicing Tai Chi Chuan, what
should one practice? What should be expected? Based on individual education,
understanding, experiences, and objectives, the result is always different. Some
people practice for health, some just to pass the time and some for martial arts
applications. I believe the most important thing in Tai Chi Chuan practice is
to understand the Taoist information since it is the key to one's progression.
From my experiences, the Taoist information in Tai Chi Chuan can be divided into
four groups.

1. MoralityThe movements in Tai Chi Chuan are slow, relaxed,
circular and alive. They look like flowing water. Actually, the movements are
steady in motion. This is what Yang Cheng Fu stated in his "Ten Points" in which
he said "Seek stillness in movement". This quote contains very complicated
principles behind a seemingly simple statement. The slow and relaxed
characteristics in practice are to fine tune or train one's patience, endurance,
confidence and tolerance. When one practices Tai Chi Chuan in this manner
regularly, the practitioner's character will change. One will become a very
generous, philanthropic person, and have a good temperament. When a practitioner
becomes generous, with a benevolent heart, all rooted by love and compassion,
the achievement in Tai Chi Chuan skill is infinite and immeasurable. Therefore,
in Tai Chi Chuan practices, morality is very important. This is also supported
by the Chinese martial arts community by saying that the student's first lesson
should be on martial ethics, not punching and kicking.

2. AdaptabilityThe physical requirement in Tai Chi Chuan practice
is that all the movements should be slow, relaxed, even, circular, balanced and
stable. The speed should be even, the postures should be comfortable, and the
opening and closing movements should be natural and proper. One should practice
in a calm and tranquil mental condition. This is especially true of push hands
exercises. It is only from peaceful, calm and relaxed state that one can detect
or "listen" to the opponent's movements and intentions via the skin contact. The
common weakness among Tai Chi Chuan practitioners today is that they often
execute movements quickly without any patience and always look for short cuts.
Tai Chi Chuan practice is to train the practitioner to be calm and stable so one
is able to react to sudden changes in the situation. In today's complex society,
one has to possess this adaptability to survive in this ever-changing
environment and to be able to manage all the unexpected changes in daily, job
and family affairs. Therefore, proper Tai Chi Chuan practice trains one's
adaptability.

3. IntelligenceIn Tai Chi Chuan push hands and applications it is
strongly recommended that one put to use the sayings of like "softness overcomes
hardness", "four ounces overcomes a 1000 pounds", and "strike second but get to
the target first." All these concepts have something in common. They ask that
the practitioner use her intelligence, do her homework and prepare before
executing any action. We are living in a complex society, conflicts are a fact
of life. When it comes to problem and conflict resolution, Tai Chi Chuan does
not believe in direct confrontation. It recommends that the practitioner look
for alternatives and other options. The concepts of yielding and neutralization
in push hand exercises are some of the options that result from using one's
intelligence. Therefore, practicing Tai Chi Chuan helps one to train and apply
one's intelligence and creativity.

4. CultivationTai Chi Chuan has a very complicated philosophy and
is very difficult to understand. A practitioner's skill is determined by how one
understands the philosphy, principles and theories and then how much time is
spent to practice according to the philosophy, principles and theories. Without
this, Tai Chi Chuan practice is nothing more than a calisthenics exercise.
Therefore, in order to improve one's Tai Chi Chuan skills, one has to have
knowledge and information about Chinese philosophy, literature, medical theory,
physics, music and fine art. The Tai Chi Chuan Classics were written by ancient
practitioners recording their experiences. Without any understanding of
background in Chinese literature, one cannot understand the Tai Chi Chuan
Classics. Tai Chi Chuan has a complicated philosophy. Without understanding
about yin/yang theory, one cannot correctly put it into practice. The mechanics
in Tai Chi Chuan movements are related to the skeletal system, meridians, muscle
groups and joints. If one does not have any knowledge of Chinese medical theory
or physics, one cannot execute the movements correctly or properly with power.
Today, many people like the graceful motions in Tai Chi Chuan movements, but
without any background in fine arts and music, it is difficult for one to
appreciate the graceful circular movements' coordination, rhythm and balance.
Therefore, Tai Chi Chuan practices encourage one to educate oneself, and always
obtain more knowledge and improve oneself.

B. Art informationThe art information is the result and function
of practicing Tai Chi Chuan's solo form. It is considered secondary and was
often ignored by ancient practitioners. Therefore, no documents can be found.
There are two obvious groups.

1. Martial applicationsThe function in martial art applications
are physical. It is tangible. One can see the technique's applications and
variations. All martial art systems have and include applications. The
difference in Tai Chi Chuan is that it is based on characteristics of slowness,
gentleness, relaxation and circularity, so it is suitable for practitioners of
all physical conditions and it is also a complete system to train beginning
students in practices from the solo form to push hands exercises to weapons and
sparring.

2. HealthAs its function as a martial art, practicing Tai Chi
Chuan's solo form can improve one's health conditions. This outcome can be
measured by medical equipment. It is documented that one of the original
purposes of Tai Chi Chuan practice was for longevity.

From what I explained above, one can see that the practice of Tai Chi Chuan
has many functions and not all are easily understood because they are related to
practical experiences. It is more than simply learning the Tai Chi Chuan solo
form's movements. It is often said that among experienced practitioners that
learning the solo form's movements are only the first step in Tai Chi Chuan
training.

The philosophy governing martial arts is very complex, a
practitioner's morality is equivalent to a tree's seed. It has the potential to
grow up to be a tall and strong tree if it can overcome the internal and
external obstacles. In the past, a student often spent many years to search out
a knowledgeable instructor. The same is true from an instructor's perspective to
search out a student with high moral standards, and an ability to learn and pass
on information. When it comes to internal and external obstacles from a martial
arts perspective, people often say that a student without internal qualities
such as confidence, patience, self-esteem, and courage, cannot make use of the
skills, knowledge and training in confrontational situations. Without these
internal qualities in training, one cannot be disciplined and work hard in
practice, or be humble and curious regarding new information and proper training
and execution temperaments, the three important characteristics that many
instructors consider essential criteria to transmit the knowledge and
information. Martial arts is about unpredictable situations and preparation. The
better one is prepared, the higher the chance one will win. In Tai Chi Chuan
training, the function of adaptability will prepare the student for all
situations. The winner of any war was not determined by how much fire power a
party had. Rather, it was based on how well the general utilized his resources
and strategy. Martial arts confrontation share the same philosophy. Therefore,
the function of intelligence in Tai Chi Chuan training is very important.
Anything without innovation will be eliminated by the competitor in an open
market. The same is true in many styles of Chinese martial arts. Therefore, the
function of cultivation in Tai Chi Chuan training is to help a student inherit
knowledge and information from the instructor on one hand, and combine the
inherited information with experiences to provide innovation on the second
hand. The combination of the two puts one in an advantageous position. This is
why I said the Taoist information is much more important than the Art
information in Tai Chi Chuan training. One has to spend more time to work on
these Taoist aspects in order to improve his skill.

In order to obtain all the possible benefits from Tai Chi Chuan, one must
clarify the information presented in these two important areas to better compose
oneself. When one masters the art information, it benefits the health and is
useful in combat applications. When one mastered the Taoist information, one is
skillful and has become a true person.